Responding to comments made in the Kuwaiti press, the British Embassy has issued the following statement: We understand the issue of visas is an emotive issue for many Kuwaitis.

The UK and Kuwait have a close and longstanding friendship. That is why our dedicated team work tirelessly, particularly during the summer months, to ensure visas are processed as quickly as possible-most visas are issued within 15 working days, and where the priority fee has been paid, within five working days. Efforts remain ongoing to transition to an electronic visa waiver system for short term visitors and we hope to be able to give you more news on this in the coming months.

On the question of cost, UK visa fees are set by the UK Treasury and Parliament. The same visa fees apply worldwide. We believe our fees remain competitively priced especially when one considers the entitlements which accompany each route and when compared with international prices. The current fee of £85 for a six-month multiple entry visit visa, for example, is significantly below the cost of processing this visa and remains competitive when compared against other countries.

Kuwaiti applicants who travel to the UK frequently can choose to apply for long term visit visas. Long term visas are a relatively rare product in the global market and offer good value for money for frequent travelers since a long term visit visa fee is less than the cost of multiple short term visit visas to cover the same period. In the vast majority of cases, we issue the visa for the duration requested.